It is not difficult to find many articles on the internet about the name Chu Duc Anh associated with the nickname of an excellent student who won a scholarship to the university with the lowest acceptance rate in America, with a full of outstanding academic achievements while in school. After all these years, the experiences he has equipped himself with in his career are even more remarkable. Let's find out why Duc Anh landed at Katalon, chose to pursue a career in Product Management, and get to know him outside of the work context.
Anh: It all started with my college experience. I went to an American university, where I was able to travel and experience the world. As part of my education, I was exposed to professionals, companies, and projects in different industries all the time. As someone who did not have a clear direction and career orientation - just like many other young people, I got encouragement from my mentors and a lot of support from people I met to just go out there and try out things.
Thanks to that, I was able to gain experience in various domains. First, I started with marketing - something that I got the gist of but didn’t understand the actual day-to-day experience. So I got a marketing associate gig to just throw myself out there. Then, it's the same thing for the HR consulting job for Unilever in Argentina, or even the software development. It's all about making the most out of the opportunities you get.
My journey to product management started when I was in Korea. I did a business internship after a fascinating conversation with the company’s CEO at a conference. As I learned how to code and automate things for my daily work, I got the opportunity to switch to data engineering, then software development, and eventually got to the Tech Lead position because I spent a lot of time just tinkering, trying new things, and creating new initiatives. I was reaching a level of understanding that I felt comfortable with in terms of technology, but I was also really itching to apply my business skills learned as a Business major. All of that steered me towards product management, where all of my real-world experience, skills, and education could come together.
Q. Through all that global experience, why did you decide to move back to Vietnam after graduation? What made you choose Katalon and continue to grow your career in Product Management?
Anh: It was both circumstantial and a personal growth decision. It was during COVID (2021), everywhere was in lockdown, which made living abroad difficult. So I moved back to Vietnam. Then, frankly, my company was not as strong of a product company as Katalon or any other pure software companies. So I started looking for an opportunity where I could actually grow my product management knowledge and expertise a lot more. After speaking with a dozen different companies in Vietnam, Katalon came to my attention, and I got really interested in the company culture.
However, I would say that at first, I had a lot of reservations because I had never worked with a Vietnamese team and had also never really worked in an office for an extended period before. I was used to working with an international team remotely. It was new and different for me. But at the end of the day, I tried to view everything as a challenge for myself. If I didn’t go out there to try and tackle new things, then I couldn’t grow. I knew that joining Katalon was going to be interestingly challenging because of just how different the work culture was and how different the job itself was going to be. But I’m really glad I joined because I believe I learned so much more than I ever expected.
Q. Until now, is what you are doing at the moment considered the right path that you have outlined for yourself? How have you grown with Katalon?
Anh: I feel really good about what I'm doing right now. A good thing about product management is that we have a lot of different options for how we can grow and what kind of skills we can develop. Plus, at Katalon, we have a culture of encouraging personal development, which I do appreciate. Previously, I was a very technical person. But in Katalon, I was immediately really pushed to understand how much of a people job product management was and how to effectively communicate to get jobs done.
Also, we are still a growing company with a lot of ambitions. So working here means being exposed to new challenges, new projects, and actively trying to come up with new ideas and directions. At the end of the day, I was able to develop a decent understanding of strategy, business, and people here, and that's something that I really appreciate.
Q. Besides a version of Duc Anh at work, I think people would want to know if there are any hobbies that you consider interesting about yourself.
Anh: I would choose 3 words for myself: the guitarist, the tech tinkerer, and a cat lover. The first thing I would tell people about myself is going to be music. I love music from the 50s and the 60s: the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, and all those classics. The one single thing that I do take with me anywhere in the world is my guitar. I have been playing the guitar since I was 10 years old. It's basically what I reach out for whenever I want some relaxing time.
Secondly, I love tinkering with technology. I like taking things apart and finding out how technology gadgets work - it helps me learn and have fun at the same time. In my free time, I set up my own smart home, host a home server, deploy a lot of different applications, and even contribute to open-source projects.
Lastly, I think most people can probably notice from all the pictures of me in Katalon that I love cats. I have been taking care of my beautiful cat - her name is Mao - since she was a kitten. I love spending time hanging out with her. She's my icebreaker. If I am able to get my pictures anywhere people should look at Mao first haha.
Q. What accomplishments are you most proud of, not limited to your career, it can be anything you can think of.
Anh: Honestly, this would not be an important or huge achievement, but it was a lifetime experience that I will remember forever. It was a 4-day trip in the cold of the Himalayas with my 4 roommates during a break from studying in India. The best part was just how unprepared we were and how spontaneous the whole thing was - but it worked out in the end and we had probably one of the best trips that we ever had. We somehow managed to get a stupidly expensive Uber ride to the camp but the driver introduced us to a lot of different delicious local Indian cuisines as we made stops along the way. When we arrived at the camp, it was so foggy and freezing. Literally, you were stepping on stairs covered by frozen ice. We slipped a lot, it was super exhausting but super fun. And I have to admit that the four guys didn't have any showers for four days and we constantly wore the same layers of summer clothes because we didn't bring any winter clothes to India. It was us clumping together in a tent to stay warm and sleep through the night. But the best thing was when you woke up in the morning, the sunrise there was unparalleled, and you got to see a lot of mountain monkeys. Plus, hot chai tea, Indian snacks, and cold mountain nights are an amazing combo. That's how unforgettable it was!
Q. You are crushing it at such a young age. Do you feel the pressure, and any tips for young professionals who are achieving big wins in their careers on staying grounded but still ambitious?
Anh: When you have done a certain number of things when you are young, you would feel the pressure of keeping it up. We tend to have a sense of uncertainty about what we are going to do in the future and what it might look like. My number one advice for everyone out there is to do things with a purpose. You want to set a clear goal for the specific period of time or the milestone in life that you’re in. Do realize that everything is a chance for learning, and have a clear goal for yourself to make the most out of it. You have to be realistic with yourself, like what your plan is to maximize your strengths and make up for your weaknesses.
Doing so can give you a much better sense of direction. No one knows for sure where life is going to take you. For example, I didn't know that I would be a Product Manager when I started doing my software development job. I didn't know that I would have so many different experiences when I started college. Similarly, you wouldn't know with certainty where you are going to be in five years or what your life is going to look like when you are 30 years old. Uncertainties are always going to be with you. But what you can do is control what's in the present. We are young. We have a lot of time to correct mistakes or to grow in a different way if things do not work out. So focus on what we can do right now with dedication, and as we do things, we will learn more about what we’ll end up next.